See It, Trash It, Get Rewarded

This sketch proposes a reward system to incentivize picking up litter in parks, based on the REI Co-op business model, as discussed in REI's Crunchy Business Model is Crushing Retail Competitors. Park-goers can sign up for a membership at their local state park, collect and track the amount of litter they remove from the parks over a given time period, and those who remove the most litter are rewarded or given some kind of "membership-only" perk. Perhaps it is similar to the exclusive events offered by REI Co-op, like a guided outing or course led by an expert. This model would focus on the aspect of community, much like the REI Co-op membership, allowing members to join collection teams and engage in friendly competition to "gamify" litter removal, with some added incentive. The sketch pictured above names the program "Stewards of Alum Creek" as an example.

Problems that come to mind with this proposal include establishing a fair way to decide on a winner for their litter collection efforts. Would the waste collected be measured by weight, or the number of items collected? Or is it based on the type of waste collected, with items that are considered more harmful having a higher value based on a point system that categorizes litter in such a way? Would there be enough interest to sustain this model? Would it be feasible for parks to offer perks and rewards that would attract participants, considering the staff and resources available to them? It's also possible that this model would be unsuccessful in preventing littering if the membership guarantees a "cleanup crew" that picks up after everyone else.